The amount of games that simply don't work on this list is starting ti get disheartening. I've reviewed 35 games so far and something like 5 of them gave me some sort of error screen when I tried to play them. That's not even counting the ones like Apoch, which broke down after I played it for a bit.
It's a shame too because BlackOut looked like a really fun game. The screenshots were promising and it advertises itself as having "incredible replay value." Unfortunately, I can't be the judge of that because "the side-by-side configuration is incorrect" (honestly sometimes I think programmers just make stuff up).
Well I'm not going to waste any more time on this because I want to get a legitimate review out my the end of the day. Stay beautiful.
Links
*sigh*: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26138
Monday, January 28, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
BlackHole
Ok, we need to talk about conveyance.
Conveyance is one of the most important aspects of game design. period. People who actually know something about game design will be angry with a game developer who doesn't incorporate it into their games; and people who aren't familiar with game design will be angry as well, even if they don't know exactly why.
If you don't know what conveyance is, you should watch Egoraptor's Sequelitis on Megaman. He explains it much better than I ever could. I'll provide a link below. Basically, conveyance is how well you teach the player how to play your game. Some games do this with button tutorials (which I loathe), but really well designed games will be able to teach the player through the mechanics alone. Usually, conveyance refers to teaching players how to use the controls they already know in order to progress through the game. In games with bad conveyance, however, it can sometimes be difficult to even learn which buttons you are supposed to press
And herein lies the most basic problem with BlackHole.
See, if you're dealing with a controller, there are usually a maximum of 10 buttons that you have to work with. Because of this, it's acceptable for controller-oriented games to not explain which buttons do what, because the player can just press all the buttons and learn for themselves in a matter of seconds. This is more rewarding to the player than is having his or her hand held through a button tutorial.
Then again, if you're dealing with a computer, there are often more than 100 buttons that the player has to work with. Most PC games stick with a generally accepted button layout so as not to confuse the players. WASD to move, mouse to aim, click for action. BlackHole keeps to this formula for the most part, except WASD and the mouse both aim, leaving no feasible control for movement. In order to move forward, you have to press "r", and to move backward, you press "f".
Now why did I spend the last 5 paragraphs of this little analysis ranting about that? Because it took me like 15 minutes to figure out how to move forward! Granted, "r" and "f" are close to the WASD keys, so they should be among the first buttons the player presses for experimentation. However, unless you hold the keys down, the speed boost you gain from hitting them is negligible, which lead me to believe that the keys did nothing. I suppose that's why they put a speed counter on the HUD, so you can see that pressing "r" causes the value to shoot up a bit, but still; a "how to play" screen would have been appreciated in this case.
Other than that, BlackHole is actually a really entertaining game. There's no specific goal to accomplish, but there are a good variety of missions to select, all available from the start, leaving the player to decide which game mode he or she wants to play at all times. I like this in a game, personally.
The incentive for completing missions is that you get money, which you can spend on upgrades, which you will need if you want to stand a chance in some of the harder missions. This is a good system at its core, but the execution is a little sloppy in BlackHole because you can just keep playing an easy mission for 10 minutes and get enough money to upgrade your laser to its maximum potential, at which point there's very little that can touch you. Seriously, once you get the laser to the highest level even the enemy flagships go down easier than a fly in a hurricane.
In short, once you figure out the controls of BlackHole, it becomes a fun experience that's very reminiscent of the dogfights from Star Wars: Battlefront II. In fact, The graphics rival those of Battlefront II (at times...kind of) and the sound direction is, in my opinion, superior. That alone earns this game my seal of approval
Until next time, stay spacey.
Links
sequelitis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM
Wholly Black: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=549
Conveyance is one of the most important aspects of game design. period. People who actually know something about game design will be angry with a game developer who doesn't incorporate it into their games; and people who aren't familiar with game design will be angry as well, even if they don't know exactly why.
If you don't know what conveyance is, you should watch Egoraptor's Sequelitis on Megaman. He explains it much better than I ever could. I'll provide a link below. Basically, conveyance is how well you teach the player how to play your game. Some games do this with button tutorials (which I loathe), but really well designed games will be able to teach the player through the mechanics alone. Usually, conveyance refers to teaching players how to use the controls they already know in order to progress through the game. In games with bad conveyance, however, it can sometimes be difficult to even learn which buttons you are supposed to press
And herein lies the most basic problem with BlackHole.
See, if you're dealing with a controller, there are usually a maximum of 10 buttons that you have to work with. Because of this, it's acceptable for controller-oriented games to not explain which buttons do what, because the player can just press all the buttons and learn for themselves in a matter of seconds. This is more rewarding to the player than is having his or her hand held through a button tutorial.
Then again, if you're dealing with a computer, there are often more than 100 buttons that the player has to work with. Most PC games stick with a generally accepted button layout so as not to confuse the players. WASD to move, mouse to aim, click for action. BlackHole keeps to this formula for the most part, except WASD and the mouse both aim, leaving no feasible control for movement. In order to move forward, you have to press "r", and to move backward, you press "f".
Now why did I spend the last 5 paragraphs of this little analysis ranting about that? Because it took me like 15 minutes to figure out how to move forward! Granted, "r" and "f" are close to the WASD keys, so they should be among the first buttons the player presses for experimentation. However, unless you hold the keys down, the speed boost you gain from hitting them is negligible, which lead me to believe that the keys did nothing. I suppose that's why they put a speed counter on the HUD, so you can see that pressing "r" causes the value to shoot up a bit, but still; a "how to play" screen would have been appreciated in this case.
Other than that, BlackHole is actually a really entertaining game. There's no specific goal to accomplish, but there are a good variety of missions to select, all available from the start, leaving the player to decide which game mode he or she wants to play at all times. I like this in a game, personally.
The incentive for completing missions is that you get money, which you can spend on upgrades, which you will need if you want to stand a chance in some of the harder missions. This is a good system at its core, but the execution is a little sloppy in BlackHole because you can just keep playing an easy mission for 10 minutes and get enough money to upgrade your laser to its maximum potential, at which point there's very little that can touch you. Seriously, once you get the laser to the highest level even the enemy flagships go down easier than a fly in a hurricane.
In short, once you figure out the controls of BlackHole, it becomes a fun experience that's very reminiscent of the dogfights from Star Wars: Battlefront II. In fact, The graphics rival those of Battlefront II (at times...kind of) and the sound direction is, in my opinion, superior. That alone earns this game my seal of approval
Until next time, stay spacey.
Links
sequelitis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM
Wholly Black: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=549
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Berserk
Sorry about yesterday, folks. In all honesty, I wish I could follow up on my promise for this weekend a bit better, but this is probably the most hectic weekend I've had since ever. I won't bore you with the details, so let's just jump right into today's review
Berserk can best be described as Arc Angle meets Amoeba Evolution. The controls are pretty much the same as those in Amoeba Evolution and the aesthetic is pretty much identical to Arc Angle
you fly around in a colorful, visually pleasing neon world; if you come across a square, you kill the square. Simple as that. The controls are very easy to master and at its core, the gameplay is very simplistic. Point to aim, click to shoot, WASD to fly.
This is by far the most average game I've played on this list so far, and that's pretty much the worst kind of experience a reviewer can have with a game. In all honesty, it's a good game, but there's nothing that really makes it good. There are just things that make it not bad.
for example, the enemies can swiftly fill up the screen with bullets, meaning you have to be vigilant and gameplay can get frantic at times. This keeps the game from being boring.
That's really all I can say. I'm not going to artificially lengthen these reviews by going on and on to meet some kind of arbitrary word count. There's genuinely nothing to say about Berserk other than "It's fun and looks pretty. Give it a shot if you're bored."
Links
blarglwhargl: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25884
Berserk can best be described as Arc Angle meets Amoeba Evolution. The controls are pretty much the same as those in Amoeba Evolution and the aesthetic is pretty much identical to Arc Angle
you fly around in a colorful, visually pleasing neon world; if you come across a square, you kill the square. Simple as that. The controls are very easy to master and at its core, the gameplay is very simplistic. Point to aim, click to shoot, WASD to fly.
This is by far the most average game I've played on this list so far, and that's pretty much the worst kind of experience a reviewer can have with a game. In all honesty, it's a good game, but there's nothing that really makes it good. There are just things that make it not bad.
for example, the enemies can swiftly fill up the screen with bullets, meaning you have to be vigilant and gameplay can get frantic at times. This keeps the game from being boring.
That's really all I can say. I'm not going to artificially lengthen these reviews by going on and on to meet some kind of arbitrary word count. There's genuinely nothing to say about Berserk other than "It's fun and looks pretty. Give it a shot if you're bored."
Links
blarglwhargl: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25884
Friday, January 25, 2013
nothing today
No time to explain. I just got home and I have SATs tomorrow. You guys know I try to make time for these reviews, but I just couldnt do it this time. Not the end of the world. After all, I've skipped days before. I promise I'll go hardcore tomorrow
Salutations
Salutations
Thursday, January 24, 2013
BEMPU
This game...is an absolute mess.
If pinball and roulette had some kind of mutant lovechild, this would be it. As soon as you press start, you are bombarded by sound effects and a confusing game screen before you realize that the only controls that do anything are lift and right click to control your left and right bumpers, respectively. Basically, there's a pair of bumpers on each edge of a shape of your choosing (hexagon for 6 players, etc). Whenever a ball comes within striking range of your bumpers, hit a button. That's how you play. Literally. That's it.
So, basically, you spend 90% of your time waiting for the opportunity to hit a ball and sighing. Sounds like fun? I didn't think so. See, pinball is fun because of its fast pace. When you aren't actively hitting a bumper, you're frantically scanning around, attempting to trace the path of the little shiny metal ball as it bounces off of stuff. This can get a little tricky and it certainly requires focus, but it's manageable and fun because it only forces you to look at one thing. The human mind can trace one object rather easily. BEMPU, on the other hand, features many slow-moving objects rather than one fast-moving one. This makes the game not only boring but also very disorienting. Even if you did try to follow the motion paths of all the balls as they flew through the air, it seems like ages before you actually get the opportunity to hit one of them.
Also, remember before when I said I would stop commenting on sound direction unless there was genuinely something worth talking about? Well in this game, there is no music. I already commented on the confusing and discombobulated sound effects, so I think we can all agree the sound direction isn't exactly competent.
In summary, this game is a bug-eyed, delirious mess that I suggest you pass on unless you want to study it to gain knowledge about the human mind and its weaknesses.
I was kind of harsh in this review, I admit, but you know what? I'm glad that this game was made. Damn glad. All that info I spewed about the difference between one vs many objects I learned just from playing this game. This kind of hearkens back to my Astrobunny review where I commented on the possible benefit to scholarly pursuits that game can have. I see that same faintly glimmering diamond somewhere in BEMPU, but whereas Astrobunny was a genuinely enjoyable experience, BEMPU just hurts.
Thanks for hearing me out again. Until next time, stay sentient.
If pinball and roulette had some kind of mutant lovechild, this would be it. As soon as you press start, you are bombarded by sound effects and a confusing game screen before you realize that the only controls that do anything are lift and right click to control your left and right bumpers, respectively. Basically, there's a pair of bumpers on each edge of a shape of your choosing (hexagon for 6 players, etc). Whenever a ball comes within striking range of your bumpers, hit a button. That's how you play. Literally. That's it.
So, basically, you spend 90% of your time waiting for the opportunity to hit a ball and sighing. Sounds like fun? I didn't think so. See, pinball is fun because of its fast pace. When you aren't actively hitting a bumper, you're frantically scanning around, attempting to trace the path of the little shiny metal ball as it bounces off of stuff. This can get a little tricky and it certainly requires focus, but it's manageable and fun because it only forces you to look at one thing. The human mind can trace one object rather easily. BEMPU, on the other hand, features many slow-moving objects rather than one fast-moving one. This makes the game not only boring but also very disorienting. Even if you did try to follow the motion paths of all the balls as they flew through the air, it seems like ages before you actually get the opportunity to hit one of them.
Also, remember before when I said I would stop commenting on sound direction unless there was genuinely something worth talking about? Well in this game, there is no music. I already commented on the confusing and discombobulated sound effects, so I think we can all agree the sound direction isn't exactly competent.
In summary, this game is a bug-eyed, delirious mess that I suggest you pass on unless you want to study it to gain knowledge about the human mind and its weaknesses.
I was kind of harsh in this review, I admit, but you know what? I'm glad that this game was made. Damn glad. All that info I spewed about the difference between one vs many objects I learned just from playing this game. This kind of hearkens back to my Astrobunny review where I commented on the possible benefit to scholarly pursuits that game can have. I see that same faintly glimmering diamond somewhere in BEMPU, but whereas Astrobunny was a genuinely enjoyable experience, BEMPU just hurts.
Thanks for hearing me out again. Until next time, stay sentient.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Beluxed Defense
You know what, guys? I'm just pooped. Straight up pooped.
I just got home at 7:00pm with an assload and a half of work bearing down upon me, not to mention a math test to study for. I hope you guys appreciate me coming out here and spewing words at your face parts...
Well anyway, I was kind of looking forward to Beluxed Defense because it advertised itself as a "humorous" game, which is just what I need to distract myself from my inevitable demise. Apparently, though, my blinky lights machine that I blew half my savings on doesn't have pixel shader 3.0 technology (which is bs, by the way. I checked and it does) so I can't run Beluxed Defense.
All the better for me. Now I get to say nothing and still feel good about myself for posting.
I wish I had the time to be witty, but I've already blown more time than I should have writing this. Maybe when it's midnight and I'm burned out but still too high on caffeine to sleep I'll come back and drunkenly reveal some deep, personal secrets. Don't count on that, though. I'll probably just pass out.
Until next time, stop procrastinating (unless you procrastinate by reading my reviews...then it's ok).
Links
maybe you have pixel shader 3.0:https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=401
I just got home at 7:00pm with an assload and a half of work bearing down upon me, not to mention a math test to study for. I hope you guys appreciate me coming out here and spewing words at your face parts...
Well anyway, I was kind of looking forward to Beluxed Defense because it advertised itself as a "humorous" game, which is just what I need to distract myself from my inevitable demise. Apparently, though, my blinky lights machine that I blew half my savings on doesn't have pixel shader 3.0 technology (which is bs, by the way. I checked and it does) so I can't run Beluxed Defense.
All the better for me. Now I get to say nothing and still feel good about myself for posting.
I wish I had the time to be witty, but I've already blown more time than I should have writing this. Maybe when it's midnight and I'm burned out but still too high on caffeine to sleep I'll come back and drunkenly reveal some deep, personal secrets. Don't count on that, though. I'll probably just pass out.
Until next time, stop procrastinating (unless you procrastinate by reading my reviews...then it's ok).
Links
maybe you have pixel shader 3.0:https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=401
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Bear Pile
Another day, another review frantically pushed through the series of tubes known as the internets.
I'm gonna keep this one short and sweet and say Bear Pile is an impressive game with a surprising amount of polish. There's my review in a nutshell. You can leave if you want.
Of course, I wouldn't feel right about myself if I left you with just that. Here's a more in-depth analysis:
The graphics are probably the game's most impressive feature. Everything is colorful and stylized as well as being competently textured, giving off what I would call the best 3D graphical style on this list so far (with the exception of Base Invaders).
The sound direction is well done, too. Again, there's not much to say. I'm probably going to stop including this section in my reviews unless I have something outstanding to comment on. I think what I like best about the sound direction in Bear Pile are the sound effects. They do a great job cluing you in as to what's happening. I feel like I could play this game with my eyes closed, but don't want to because it looks so damn pretty.
The gameplay is, once again, the main selling point. The hook this time around is that there are two armories, a defensive cache and an offensive cache, that you can take stuff from. There are no unnecessary gimmicks like warm up time, thus keeping the game fast-paced and fun. You can only carry one weapon at a time, so you need to decide whether to go for an offensive approach or a defensive approach. Although, you won't get far unless you use both caches. The one problem I have is that there's one strategy that's quite easy to figure out and trumps all the others. Build up the defensive before the bears get close and then switch to offensive and smash the bears' heads in with a lead pipe.
All things considered, this game impressed me. One nitpick point I feel I should add in here is that the game doesn't let you alt+tab out of it. I usually play these games with Blogger and Skype open, but while I was playing Bear Pile, I couldn't use either. A bit annoying, but I say you should still give it a shot.
Until next time, stay away from the bears.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18584
I'm gonna keep this one short and sweet and say Bear Pile is an impressive game with a surprising amount of polish. There's my review in a nutshell. You can leave if you want.
Of course, I wouldn't feel right about myself if I left you with just that. Here's a more in-depth analysis:
The graphics are probably the game's most impressive feature. Everything is colorful and stylized as well as being competently textured, giving off what I would call the best 3D graphical style on this list so far (with the exception of Base Invaders).
The sound direction is well done, too. Again, there's not much to say. I'm probably going to stop including this section in my reviews unless I have something outstanding to comment on. I think what I like best about the sound direction in Bear Pile are the sound effects. They do a great job cluing you in as to what's happening. I feel like I could play this game with my eyes closed, but don't want to because it looks so damn pretty.
The gameplay is, once again, the main selling point. The hook this time around is that there are two armories, a defensive cache and an offensive cache, that you can take stuff from. There are no unnecessary gimmicks like warm up time, thus keeping the game fast-paced and fun. You can only carry one weapon at a time, so you need to decide whether to go for an offensive approach or a defensive approach. Although, you won't get far unless you use both caches. The one problem I have is that there's one strategy that's quite easy to figure out and trumps all the others. Build up the defensive before the bears get close and then switch to offensive and smash the bears' heads in with a lead pipe.
All things considered, this game impressed me. One nitpick point I feel I should add in here is that the game doesn't let you alt+tab out of it. I usually play these games with Blogger and Skype open, but while I was playing Bear Pile, I couldn't use either. A bit annoying, but I say you should still give it a shot.
Until next time, stay away from the bears.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18584
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